Ammunition magazines, for use with automatic or semi-automatic weapons such as pistols, are generally made in the form of elongate tubes or containers for holding the ammunition in a stacked condition. The magazine is inserted into the opening of a cavity or chamber in the firearm by pushing the magazine upwardly through the opening and locking it into place. The bottom surface of the magazine, at least in the case of a pistol, becomes the bottom surface of the pistol grip.
The user of an automatic or semi-automatic weapon often finds it necessary or desirable to find a way to carry one or more spare ammunition magazines. Various manners have been used in the past for accomplishing this task, including the use of special apparel with pockets, belts or holsters, or other means. Magazines with integrated clips have also been proposed but have various drawbacks limiting their usefulness.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for improvements in the area of ammunition magazines having clip members for easily carrying one or more magazines on the user, or on an item carried by the user, or even on another object such as for longer term storage.